State Briefs

More than 93K applicants for Ark. private option

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - The Arkansas Department of Human Services says more than 93,000 people have filed applications for health insurance under Arkansas' private option plan to expand Medicaid.

The state said Thursday that of those 93,000 applications, more than 74,000 have been deemed eligible for the private option. This year, the Arkansas Legislature voted to use Medicaid money for private health insurance coverage for about 250,000 people.

The agency says about 5,900 people have been assigned to the traditional Medicaid plan because of health needs. The coverage starts Jan. 1.

The program is separate from the federal health insurance program that operates through the HealthCare.gov website.

2 Ark. providers join cost-lowering plan

LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Two health-care provider networks in Arkansas will begin participating in a program that rewards providers for lowering the cost of care for Medicare patients.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced this week that the new participants are Arkansas Health Network, which is owned by the St. Vincent Health System, and Arkansas Accountable Care LLC, which was formed by the Medical Associates of Northwest Arkansas.

Participants must eventually meet 33 quality measures for providing patient care. Those that reduce the cost of their Medicare patients' services below a certain level will receive payments from the federal government.

2 killed in crash in SW Missouri

PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) - Two people have been killed and four people were injured in a crash in southwest Missouri.

The three-vehicle crash occurred Thursday afternoon in Pineville. The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 20-year-old Bethany Boxx and 16-year-old Katelyn Boxx were killed in the crash. They were both from Bentonville.

The patrol says the crash occurred as two cars were northbound in U.S. 71 and one of those cars passed the other. The car in the back then struck the car in front, sending it crossing the center line where it collided with the victims' van.

Drunk driver hits LR Convention Center

A police report says the early Friday crash caused about $15,000 damage to the building and about $25,000 in damage to the 2007 Mercedes Benz driven by 23-year-old Phillip Troppoli of Roland.

The report says Troppoli was seen by a witness getting into his car on Main Street and hitting a vehicle in front of him, then proceeding north toward the convention center.

After the crash, police found Troppoli in the nearby Marriott hotel, where an injury to his face allegedly matched "an imprint from an individual's face" inside of the car's windshield.

Troppoli refused blood and breath tests for alcohol and was booked into the Pulaski County Jail on $15,000 bond.

14-year-old dies from gunshot to face

SWIFTON (AP) - Authorities in Jackson County say a 14-year-old boy is dead from a gunshot wound to the face.

Sheriff's deputies on Friday were still investigating the shooting at a home in Swifton. Deputies were summoned at 7:15 p.m. with a report that a shooting had just occurred.

Officials identified the victim as Isaac Odell Williams of Newport.

Authorities say the shooting appears to have been accidental but the investigation is continuing.

Mitsubishi evaluates Fort Smith plant

FORT SMITH (AP) - Mitsubishi is evaluating its completed but unopened wind turbine $100 million factory in Fort Smith now that the company has settled a technology lawsuit with General Electric Co.

Mitsubishi Power Systems Americas Inc. had been in a dispute with GE since 2009 over elements of the wind turbine designs, but the Japan-based company has not yet announced any plans for the Fort Smith factory.

A Mitsubishi spokesman said the company is prohibited from publicly discussing terms of the GE settlement.

Arkansas heavily recruited wind energy companies but the sector has struggled without long-term tax incentives for windmill-produced electricity. Nordex USA recently ended production at its turbine plant in Jonesboro.

The Fort Smith plant was projected to employ 400 people.

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State Briefs

The Arkansas Department of Human Services says more than 93,000 people have filed applications for health insurance under Arkansas' private option plan to expand Medicaid.